Tie plate



W. S. BOYCE Oct. 14, 1952 TIE PLATE 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Filed Dec. 6, 1946 INVENTOR.

' Qyoa,

Patented Oct. 14, 1952 S PAT E N T.

2,613,876 i I fIIE PLATE:

William S Boyce, Denver, Colo v Application December 6, 1946, Serial No. 714,544

12 Claims. (01.238-303) This invention relates to a tie plate of the type used-in railroad track construction, and more particularly to a tie plate structure having vertically separated primary, secondary and tertiary bearing areas that are individually coplanar and that willsuccessively adjust themselves to initially flat tie surfaces,v to firmly anchor the rail to the ties andprevent anytpossibility of gage misalinement. I

Th present invention is an improvement .on those shown in United States Letters Patent 1,583,773. and 2,018,658 granted to me May 11, 1926, and October 29, 1935, respectively. While the tie plates of said prior patents Were efficient:

for the purpose then intended, railroad operations have, with the additional requirements of speed and safety, made necessary a more effective tie plate that will meet the increased requirements and effectivelyminimize the .possibility of misalinement of the track gage as result of operation of trains. The tie plateyof the present invention isso constructed as tovmeet all ofthe present rigid requirements ofincreased speed of rolling stock and more effectively and safely secure the rails to the ties.

, Among the objects offimy invention :are: 1toprovide a novel and improved railroad tie plate; to provide a'tie plate structurewhich will suc-' cessfully adjust itself to initially flat tiesurf'aces andv by means of vertically separated surfaces thatare. individually coplanar .will provide. adequate immediateanchorage for .railson .ties by means .of properly distributed bearing areas .pro-.

vidingp'fractional embedment .of such bearing areas in the ties, particularly tiesofsoftwo'ods or similarlycompressible material; to provide .a tie plate that will expeditiously grip and retain its initially positioned tie seat and minimize subsequent movement thereon; to provide a tie plate of adequate strength-and in which the metal'in.

the plate is so distributed as to attain the maximum strength consistent with the weight of the. plate and computedload requirements; .tovprovide a tie plate having primary, secondary. and tertiary, tie bearing surfaces or areasthatl. are individually in a common plane, they aggregate, ing substantially-the total potentialbearingxof the plate on thetie and so'arranged as to ma-.

terially facilitate the mechanicalro lling' of the tie plates' during the recognized 5. conventional method of prduction;'to. provide a novelsconstruction and arrangement aofrjthe bottom surev faces of; the tie. plate to embody-a plurality. of parallel transverselygextending primary tie bearing areasispaced apartin. a. directlqnnlongitudiondary e bearing areas. constitutingjapproxi nally of the tie, with a lateral-1y extending recess between veach twoadjacent primary areas to pro-,5 vide tertiary bearing areas, and a pluralililtzof secondary bearing areas in said recess;. toprovide vertically spaced apart primary, secondary, and tertiary tie bearing areas the spacing be tween each thereof being substantially ,eqllahi vertical direction; toprovideaplurality ofzsp mary tie bearingareas constituting approximate-a 1y of the total plate bearing area andrs Fig. 1 is a vertical section throughta fraginenl l tary transverse, portion of a car orailo'comotive' wheel, a transverse sectionthrough the raih'and a section through Jtheptieplate longitudinally of one of the ties, which latter shown'Zfragmen-L tarily in elevation. i l Fig. 2 is a bottom'plan'viewuof the ti M shown'in Fig.1; 5:2. Fig. 3 is avertical'transve'rse section throug the'tie: plateon the line 3.3 of Fig; 2;: 2' Fig. 4 is a side elevation-.of'a .moldi'fied fdrm of -tie plate and showing insectiona fragmnt oftherail. seated in the rail seat. a I '51isj a bottom plan view ofthe plate Fig. .4, showingfthe'. secondary shearing seas of each transverse row staggered with i relation 0' Fig. 6 is apver tical transverse 'sction' o line' 6+6; of Fig. 4.but omitting the r'aili 4 i Fig.1? is a side elevation or a further modifi a form, and, showing in section "afragment of rail positioned ontherail'seat- Y Fig. 8. is a. botto'm'j pianview' cf Fig. .7 but omittihg the rail Fig; 9.'is a vertically transverse section throu the'tie plate on'the line '9'-9 ofFi g "7 vWith the; advent of in'echanicall azm'g: machines for preparing a tie plate seat on thetie's'; and plate-cut ties in the -'trackin :-connebfioii with I rail; renewals and *on inew' :ti's before 3 their insert om: it; is important m'pmv'iasmne cnmefic the importantfunctions required of .an efiicient tie plate'structure. The ends of the spaced pockets I6, 17, and 18 of my Patent 2,018,658, it will be noted, merge into the plane of the trans: verse members of the plate bottom. These re' cesses are produced in the rolling process by correspondingly formed periphery of the rolls. In rolling operations while forming the required shapes in the tie plates, water is used as a coolant for the rolls. With the forcing of these recesses in the hot bars passing between the rolls to form the desired tie' 'plate section, trapped steam causes minor-yet severe explosions'at the recess ends resulting in ragged, objectionable, more or less roughsurfac'es and rapid deterioration as well as'cra'cking of the roll surface requiring frequent and expensive redressing of the rolls. overcome these disadvantages in the present invention by the formation of the novel arrangement' of the primary, secondary and tertiary bearingareas.

Immediate and positive gripping of, or adhesion to,'- the. tie is anessential operative function of 'the tie plate. Projections and bottom configurations" of" varying depths indiscriminately disposed necessitate full penetration in th tie surface to become effective. I have provided. in the present invention a novel design and structure of a'tie plate embodying primary, secondary and'tertiarytie bearing areas in vertically spaced relationship to each other, their respective areas aggregating the potential ultimate maximum bearing of the plate on the tie, theselarea's being so arranged as to apportion unit load distribution to insure uniform and stable gripping of the ties Uniform seating of a tie platexon thetie isra' function of uniform applied load and proper distribution of unit pressure transmitted to the tie. 'Inv the. present construction .I have provided for theiinitial concentration of load through the coplanar surfaces at the tie plate ends and'under the. margin-of the rail flanges, these surfacesconstituting in effect the primary tie grippingportions. transverse. to the tie fibers .providedby recessing the plate bottom portionsintermediate such bearingfsurfaces or areas.

Itwill also be noted that in the bottom-structure of the tie plate disclosed in my" Patent 2,918,658; the longitudinally extending plane surfa-ces 20 retard the desired gripping action of the initial bearing areas transverse of the grain of the tie. This delayed gripping action incident to lateral load thrusts transmitted'from the wheels through the rail to the plate induces'longitudinal displacement of. the plates affecting the important-uniformity and. accuracy of the track gage, a deficiency which practical performance has dempnstrated. By providing the secondary'tie bearing surf-ace areas in vertically spaced relation to the primarytransverse "tie bearing surface areas, said secondary areas being. comprised 02;? plurality, of :laterally spaced bearing units situated in; the median and end portions of'the tiegplateas contemplated in the present inven tiQIll; improved, advantage in positive structure is accomplished, 'Inthe recessed portions of my projections on the.

I have '4 present tie plate are positioned a plurality of members constituting secondary bearing areas laterally spaced with relation to each other and in vertically spaced relationship to the primary tie bearing areas. I have also provided tertiary tie bearing areas which are in vertically spaced relation to both the primary and secondary bearing areas and are composed of the main body portion of the plate intermediate the primary and secondary'bearing areas. While I am referring to the primary, secondary and tertiary bearing areas as :being respectively coplanar, as they preferably are, I wish it understood that in some instances they may depart from being strictly fiat if desired.

In the form of my invention shown for illustra tive purposes in the drawings, my improved tie plate comprises a body portion I having on its upper surface spaced apart transversely extending rail abutting shoulders 2 and 3 defining a rail seat 4 within which is seated the rail 5 having the head portion 6 to receive onits gage sidethe flange 1 of the wheel 8. Predominantly in railroad tie plates the rail seat 4 is slightly inclined soas to throw the upper portion of the verticalcenter line of the rail slightly to the inside to enable the rail to better maintain the proper gage of. the track, by reason of being better able to .resist the .out-s ward thrust of the wheel flange 1 and/orthe. horizontal component of the vertically applied wheel load. The bottom surface portion of my improved tie plate comprises aplurality oftrans-r versely extending coplanar. primary tie bearing surfaces or areas 9, H), II, and I2. Theseprimary tie bearing surfaces orareas are parallel to'each other and spacedapart longitudinally of. the. tie plate by the plurality of transversely extending recesses, theupper preferably fiat surfacesof which constitutethe tertiary tie bearing areas l3, l4 and I5. These tertiary bearing areas like the primary bearing areas are likewise preferably flat throughout. the greater'portionof their width except that they may be slightly arcuate and beveled or tapered downwardly at their ends at. [6 to merge into the sides of the primary bear.- ing areas. Positioned ineach ofv the recesses l3, l4 and [5 are a plurality of. cross units or members IT constituting secondary tie bearing areas l8, l9 and 20. These. members are transverse of said recessesbut owing. to their reduced vertical. depth stop a little bit short at their respective ends of the extremesides of the recesses. The faces of said secondary bearing areas may be parallel with the planes of the primary .and tertiary areas, and are. positioned substantially midway between theprimary and tertiary areas in a vertical direction. As seen in Fig. 2 these cross members extend in a direction longitudinally ofthe tie plate, that is, in a direction longitudinallyof thetie, but may assume other directions as desired. This construction provides for the release of. steam formed by the heating of the cooling water during the rolling and thus minimizes explosions at the ends of the cross members and sides of the recesses to eliminate the formation of ragged, unsiriooth surfaces, deterioration and cracking of the roll surfaces, which inturn eliminates the necessity for frequent, expensive redressing of the rolls.

As shownin Figs. 1 and 2, thetie plate is formed at suitable locations" with any desired number of openings 2| to receive conventional fastening means for securing the rail to the tie plate and the tie plate to the tie. In'theform shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the cross members l'laof.

5. eachlrow are. arranged in non-staggered relationship= with thoseof the other rows, but in longitudinal alinement:

Inthe form-shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the tie plate. is of similar construction ,to that r shown in Figs. 1 and 2 except that in Figs. 4 and 5 the cross'members in'each recess ortrough are staggered with: relation to the cross members inthe next adiacentnrecess or trough- In the form shown in Figs. l, 2, ,4, and 5 the cross members in the' 'central= recess or median plate bottom portion maybe somewhat longerthan those shown in the: outside troughs. Their proportions, dimension and arrangement may be varied as desired to meet .track'requirements but without departing from the general proportions in area of the primary', secondary and tertiary tie bearing areas.:,;iFor.reasons pointed out hereinafter, it is desired Lthatthe .initial tie bearing area of the combined primarybearing surfaces be approximately. of the-plate area, and the initial tie bearing :area of the combined secondary bearing surfaces likewise'be approximately 25% of the plate area.

, In theform shown in Figs. 7 and 8, the cross members I! are omitted and in their place is substituted a transversely extending member 23 centrally positioned in each of, the recessed troughs ..l3', l4 and I5, it bein understood thatpth'ese recesses or troughs, as in Fig.2, extend transversely through the entire width of the bottom face of the tie plate. These transverse coplanar members 23 constitute the secondary tie bearing surfaces and are in vertically spaced relation to the primary surfaces 9', 10,, I l and I2. The inner faces of troughs I3, I4 and I5, on eachside of. the transverse members 23 may be substantially flat as shown at 24, 25, 26, 21, 28, and 29, or slightly arcuatein such a manner that their respective ends merge into the adjacent primary and secondary tie bearing surfaces. In this form the primary, secondary, and tertiary areas are also preferably arranged so that the primary: surfaces constitute approximately 25% of the plate area and-the secondary surfaces constitute approximately 25% of said plate area. The remainder of the plate area is constituted of the tertiary tie'bearing surfaces and the adjoining surfaces therefrom to the adjacent tie hearing surfaces r A conventional tie plate for 131 lb rails is 8 inches wide and 14 inches long, affording 112 square inches bearing area. Thirty thousand pounds rail load is a common load applied, which results in a unit load of 268 lbs. per square inch. The allowable working stress in compression perpendicular to the grainas givenby the Forest Products Laboratory of the U. S. Department of Agriculture for the following timber used for ties is: v V

Pounds per square inch Fir, Pacific Coast -i 325 Fir, Rocky Mountain 275 Western pine 250 Southern pine 325 Average 294 In the bottom arrangement of the tie plate of the present invention, the applied 30,006 lb. load isinitially distributed on the tie through the primary bearingsurfaces constituting approximately "25% of the plate bear g area, to wit: 28 square inches, or approximately 1100 lbs.'per square inch unit loadr; This load :being considl 6" erably in excessoftherecognized-working stress of tie timber results in quick initial compressive, embedment intothe tie surface and desired interloc-ked relation therewith of the primary bearing surfaces and supplemental contact of the secondary bearingsurfaces is effected; P referably the coplanar bearing area of the-mem bers constitutin the secondary bearing surfaces is likewise approximately 25% of the plate area and' with these secondary surfaces in contact with the tie, the unit load is reduced to 550 lbs,

per square inch, which is still in excess of the allowable working stress above set forth, .hence further penetration. though slightly retarded, occurs and further interlocked reaction betweenthe tie plate both longitudinally and transversely is accomplished. Upon the ultimate embedment. of the secondary surfaces into the tie sur-face,

contact between the tertiary bearing surfacesof the plateand the tie occursand the unit load of 268 lbs. per squar inch is distributed-uniformly over the tie plate-tie engaging surf ace.

q areas, and the fact that their ends merge into an angular instead o'f flat surface minimizes or precludes entirely the objectionable results of steam pockets forming which would cause rolling difficulties referred to above, owing to the reduced draft necessary to form them.

The elimination of another objectionable fea' ture of the structure of my Patent 2,018,658 is made possible by the vertically separated bearing areas that are individually coplanar as described in the present invention. The recesses 16, 1'1 and l8 of my prior Patent,2,018,658 are formed. by corrugations on the rolls producing the plate. The metal in these rolls is subjected to heavy-draft or compressive action of" the rolls, the effect of which is transmitted to the rail seat on the top of the tie plate, producing an objectionable irregular surface or rail seat.. The reduced depth of the. plurality of the'plate portions comprising. the coplanar secondary. bearing areas is such that their formation does not affect the rail seat of the tie plate. The manifest advantages of the vflat bottom tie plate structure of my Patent 2,018,658 are retained, but theimproved structure arrangement herein described greatly improves the effectiveness of the struc-. ture both from a productional as well as func-: tional standpoint, ashas been-found by. ractical demonstration..- Another important objective provided in the present graduation of plate adjustment to thentie seat lies in the improved shearing of the tie plates from the long rolled strips in which they are produced. .7 a In my prior Patent 1,853,773 the ends "6 and median portion '7 of the tie plate wererecessed, permitting the concentration of initial wheel transmitted load on transverse'members 3, but

due to the outwardly turning action of the rail incident to the lateral effect of the horizontal component of the wheel-load on the rail head,

7 the'iunsupported recessed .end portions :6 .'-permit-- 7' fed, or actually induced the rotary movement-or tilting of the plate, thus affecting track gage. For e'r 'z'am'ple', a 131 lb. rail 7 inches high (a section generally adopted by class I railroads for main lineuse) subjected to an outward or inward latera'l inch turning of the rail head results in adiiference of inch in track gage either tight or' wide, which is detrimental to track structure in that the irregularity of the track gauge intensifies the hunting action of the wheels-in passing over the rail and amplifies the lateral nosing action of the wheel flanges against the 'rail" head, increasing the tendency toward furtherdistortion of thegage and alineme'ntbothdmportant factors in smoothly riding track; In-my present construction this condition is obviated'by the presence of secondary bearing areas in the end and median portions of the tie plate since following the embedment into'the tie of the primary or' transverse portions, these secondarybearing areas coacting with the primary transverse portions prevent this tilting of plate and*development of gauge inequality, resulting in a more uniform distribution of applied load through theplate to the tie without shifting of the plate incident tothe initial seating action of the primary bearing areas. This improved construction, therefore, eliminates the structural deficiencies developed in the use of both structures of my prior Patents 1,853,773 and 2,( )18, 658.

l. A rolled steel tie plate comprising, a body portion, having a top surface and a bottom sur face, a; rail seat on said top surface, said bottom surface having a plurality of parallel primary tie bearing areas extending in spaced apart relation across said bottom surface in a direction transversely of, the tie, a plurality of secondary tie. bearing areas extending at right angles to said primary areas and vertically spaced a distance upwardly from said primary areas, and a plurality of tertiary'tie bearing areas vertically spaced a distance upwardly from said secondary area's,,said primary bearing areas all having fiat faces falling, in the same plane and being the first to contact a flat tie top surface when the tie plate is first applied to the tie, said primary bearing areas constituting approximately 25% of the plate bearing area. 2. A r'olled steel tie plate comprising, a body portion: having a top-surface and a bottom'surf ace, arail seat on said top'surface, said bot-' tom surface having a' plurality of parallel primary tie bearing areasextending in longitudi nally "spaced relation transversely across the widthof the tie plate, a recess extending between each two adjacent primary areas and par-' alleltherewith and of substantial depth in a vertical direction, and axplurality of fiat faced members. in each of said recesses, the faces of said members forming secondary tie bearing areas, and the deepest surfaces of said recesses forming tertiary tie bearing areas, said primary, secondary and tertiary areas each being vertically spaced with relation to each other and in parallel planes,.said primary bearing areas all.hav ing fiat faces falling in the same plane and being the first to contact a flat tie top surface when the tie plate is first applied to th tie, said pri-- mary bearing areas constituting approximately 25%- of the plate bearing area.

3.?A tie plate asclaimed in claim 2, in which each said members extends longitudinally "of the tie plate and less-in length'than the over: all width of its respective recess in the direction of the length of the tie pl'a'te; the-flat faces of said members jointly constituting approximately 25% ofthe plate bearing area.

4. A rolled steel tie plate havinga top surface provided with a railseat, and a bottom surface having end portions and formed transversely across each of its end portions with a primary .tie bearing surface, another primary tie bearing surface extending transversely across the bottom of the plate and spaced fromsaid endf'prim'ary surfaces, all of said primary surfaces ihavin'g fiat faces and being-"in a common plane, a troughextending transversely across the widthof'the tie plate betweer-ii each two spaced apart p'ri mary surfaces, and 'constitutingitertiary bearing surfaces; and a plurality of flat faced raised members extending. crosswise in each" of said troughs. constituting secondary bearingsurfaces, the fiat faces of the 'cro'ss members all falling in a common plane: and the flat depressed: faces of said troughs all falling in a commonflplane, the plane of said primary surfaces and the'plane of said secondary surfaces. and thefplaneof said tertiary surfaces all being vertically spaced with'relation to each other, the flat faces of the, primary bearing surfaces constituting; a substantial portion of the entire plat'erbearing area;

5. A tie plate as claimed in' claim 4:,wihJWhiCh the cross members extend longitudinally ofthe tieplate, and each endxof each cross member stops short respectively of the adjacentedged the adjacent primary bearing surface.

6. A tie platea's claimed in claim 4, in which the primary surfacesuarefour in number, said troughs are three in numben'said raised cross members are more than six in number, and said three planes are vertically spacedapart equal distances one from the other.

7. A tie plate as claimedin claim 4,111. which the primary bearing surfaces constitute approxi mately 25% of the plate bearing area, the sec-a ondarybaring surfaces constitute approximately 25% of'the' plate bearing area, and the tertiary bearing surfaces constiuting. nearly. the. re? mainder of the plate bearing area.z

8. A rolled steel tie plate having a top surface provided with arail seat, and a bottom formed transversely across the plate with aplurality of flat primary bearingsurfaces-in a common-plane, a plurality of troughs extending, transversely across the plate between the primary bearing surfaces and having tertiary bearing surfaces, and a plurality of laterally spaced members in each; of said troughs extendin longitudinallyof the plate and providing areas forming secondary bearing surfaces, said secondary bearing surfaces being coplanar in a plane vertically spaced from the plane of the primary bearing surfaces, and the tertiary bearing surfaces being coplanar in a plane vertically spaced from the plane of the secondary bearing surfaces, said flat primary surfaces constituting more than one-sixth of. the entire plate bearing area.

I 9. A tie plate as claimed in claim 8 in which the ends of said laterally spaced members merge into angular surfaces to substantially eliminate objectionable steam pockets when the tie plates are being hot-rolled, and a primary bearing stir-- face is located at each end of said tie plate bottom. i. a

10. A tiei plate comprising; a body portion-"hav ing an upper surface provided with a rail seat and an essentially fiat bottomjsurface formed with a plurality of respective primary, secondary and tertiary tie bearing surfaces in vertically spaced relation to each other, each of said bearing surfaces being formed of a series of flat coplanar tie bearing sections laterally spaced with v V of the plate.

of pressure and yet provide a retarded seating 20 action as the secondary series of bearing surfaces engage the tie surfaces, whereby to provide uniform unit seating of the plate incident to the application of the rail load and prevent tilting of the tie plate.

11. A tie plate as claimed in claim 10, in which the flat coplanar primary bearing sections in the aggregate constitute more than 15% of theentire plate bearing area.

12. A tie plate as claimed in claim 11, in which the primary bearing sections are four in number laterally spaced apart, the two outer ones extending to the opposite end edges of the plate, and the two inner ones are each wider than each of the outer ones in a direction longitudinally WILLIAM S. BOYCE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 426,530 Goldie Apr. 29, 1890 1,837,183 Boyce Dec. 15, 1931 2,018,658 Boyce Oct. 29, 1935 2,038,919

Boyce Apr. 28, 1936 

